January 2026 (Page 3)

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Tuesday night’s game between Yeovil Town and Aldershot has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

The match official, Richie Watkins was called to inspect the surface at 4:45pm at deemed the surface unplayable.

A new date will be announced in due course, with the club saying that any tickets purchased for the original date will still be valid for the new one.

The Glovers travel to Woking on Saturday before heading to either Hornchurch or Telford the week after, meaning, that unless this one gets rearranged before then,  our next home game is not until Valentines Day when Rochdale come to town for a 3pm kick off.

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We don’t want to dwell on this one too much, so we won’t!

Dakarai Mafico has won back to back Gloverscast Man of the Match votes following the 2-1 defeat to Brackley on Saturday.

Only 80 votes were cast, but the Cardiff loanee still picked up the majority of those after also impressing on debut against Alvechurch.

There was a fair share of votes behind him, with 14 different players represented by at least one vote.

DATEOPPONENTRESPONSES1ST
(Votes / Percent)		2ND
(Votes / Percent)		3RD
(Votes / Percent)
August
09.08.2025HARTLEPOOL
(Home, 0-0 draw)		172JED WARD
(52 / 32.4%)
Morgan Williams
(44 / 25.6%)		Jake Wannell
(22 / 12.8%)
16.08.2025FOREST GREEN
(Away, 2-0 loss)		87JED WARD
(39 / 44.8%)
Byron Pendleton
(16 / 18.4%)		Morgan Williams
(11 / 12.6%)
20.08.2025BRACKLEY TOWN
(Home, 2-1 win)		153JED WARD
(89 / 58.2%)
Josh Sims
(23 / 15%)		Tahvon Campbell
(14 / 9.2%)
23.08.2025BRAINTREE TOWN
(Away, 1-0 loss)		71JED WARD
(29 / 40.8%)
Josh Sims
(15 / 21.1%)		James Plant
(7 / 9.9%)
25.08.2025GATESHEAD
(Home, 4-3 loss)		174HARVEY GREENSLADE
(65 / 37.4%)
Junior Morias
(59 / 33.9%)		Josh Sims
(23 / 13.2%)
30.08.2025HALIFAX
(Away, 3-2 loss)		93JOSH SIMS
(36 / 38.7%)		Harvey Greenslade
(29 / 31.2%)		Junior Morias
(13 / 14%)
AUGUST PLAYER OF THE MONTH 🥇 JED WARD
(12 PTS, 3 MOTM)
🥈 JOSH SIMS
(8 PTS, 1 MOTM)		🥉 HARVEY GREENSLADE
(5 PTS, 1 MOTM)
02.09.2025SOLIHULL M
(Away, 1-0 win)		98 JUNIOR MORIAS
(28 / 28.3%)		Luke McCormick
(24 / 24.2%)		Jed Ward
(15 / 15.2%)
06.09.2025YORK CITY
(Home, 3-1 loss)		108JOSH SIMS
(48 / 44.4%)		Luke McCormick
(33 / 30.6%)		Jed Ward
(7 / 6.5%)
13.09.2025WOKING
(Home, 1-0 win)		127 LUKE MCCORMICK
(47 / 37%)		Kyle Ferguson
(37 / 29.1%)		Harvey Greenslade
(11 / 8.7%)
20.09.2025TAMWORTH
(Away, 1-0 loss)		62JED WARD
(17 / 27.4%)		Kyle Ferguson
(10 / 16.1%)		Josh Sims
(7 / 11.3%)
24.09.2025ALDERSHOT
(Away, 4-1 win)		94ANDREW OLUWABORI
(36 / 38.3%)
Tahvon Campbell
(25 / 26.6%)		Luke McCormick
(10 / 10.6%)
27.09.2025ALTRINCHAM
(Home, 1-0 win)		154ANDREW OLUWABORI
(51 / 33.1%)
Jed Ward
(37 / 24%)		Morgan Williams
(18 / 11.7%)
30.09.2025SUTTON UTD
(Away 2-1 win)		119JOSH SIMS
(88 / 73.9%)		Andrew Oluwabori
(20 / 16.8%)		Jed Ward
(6 / 5%)
SEPTEMBER PLAYER OF THE MONTH 🥇 ANDREW OLUWABORI
(8 PTS / 2 MOTM)

🥈 JED WARD
(8 PTS / 1 MOTM)		🥉 JOSH SIMS
(7 PTS / 2 MOTM)
04.10.2025BOREHAM WOOD
(Home - 0-3 loss)		87JED WARD
(61 / 70.1%)		Harvey Greenslade
(10 / 11.5%)		Kyle Ferguson
(5 / 5.7%)
11.10.2025HEMEL HEMPSTEAD
(Away 2-1 loss)		44HARVEY GREENSLADE
(18 / 40.9%)		Jed Ward
(10 / 22%)		Byron Pendleton
(6 / 13.6%)
18.10.2025ROCHDALE
(Away 3-0 loss)		49JED WARD
(17 / 34.7%)		Harvey Greenslade
(10 / 20.4%)		Kyle Ferguson
(5 / 10.2%)
25.10.2025CARLISLE
(Home 1-1 draw)		140Max Jolliffe
(60 / 42.9%		Harvey Greenslade
(16 / 11.4%)		George Nurse
(13 / 9.3%)
OCTOBER PLAYER OF THE MONTH 🥇 HARVEY GREENSLADE
(9 PTS / 1 MOTM)

🥈 JED WARD
(8 PTS / 1 MOTM)		🥉 MAX JOLLIFFE
(3 PTS / 1 MOTM)
04.11.2025WEALDSTONE
(Home 0-2 loss)		67 LUKE MCCORMICK
(13 / 19.4%)		Jed Ward
(12 / 17.9%)		Aaron Jarvis
(9 / 13.4%)
08.11.2025SCUNTHORPE
(Away 1-0 loss)		46JAMES PLANT
(15 / 32.6%)		Jed Ward
(12 / 26.1%)		Harvey Greenslade
(10 / 21.7%)
15.11.2025SOUTHEND
(Home 0-1 loss)		89JED WARD
(74 / 83.1%)		Max Jolliffe
(5 / 5.6%)		Junior Morias
(3 / 3.4%)
22.11.2025MORECAMBE
(Away 0-0 draw)		49JED WARD
(22 / 44.9%)		Harvey Greenslade
(12 / 24.5%)		Finn Cousin-Dawson
4 (8.2%)
29.11.2025BOSTON UNITED
(Home 2-1 win)		108 LUKE MCCORMICK
(68 / 63%)		Brett McGavin
(10 / 9.3%)		James Plant
(6 / 5.6%)
NOVEMBER PLAYER OF THE MONTH 🥇 JED WARD
(10 PTS, 2 MOTM)
🥈 LUKE MCCORMICK
(6 PTS / 2 MOTM)		🥉 JAMES PLANT
(4 PTS / 1 MOTM)
06.12.2025HARTLEPOOL UTD
(Away, 2-0 win)		106 LUKE MCCORMICK
(78 / 73.6%)		Jed Ward
(11 / 10.4%)		Harvey Greenslade
(7 / 6.6%)
13.12.2025MAIDSTONE UTD
(Home, 1-1 [4-2 on pens])		125JED WARD
(83 / 66.4%)		Brett McGavin
(10 / 8%)		Harvey Greenslade
(9 / 7.2%)
20.12.2025FOREST GEEEN
(Home, 0-2 loss)		94 LUKE MCCORMICK
(22 / 23.4%)		Harvey Greenslade
(20 / 21.3%)		Jed Ward
(17 / 18.1%)
26.12.2025TRURO CITY
(Away 0-1 loss)		67JED WARD
(55 / 82.1%)		Jake Wannell
(3 / 4.5%)		Josh Tobin / Aaron Jarvis
(2 / 3%)
30.12.2025EASTLEIGH
(Home 1-1 draw)		113 LUKE MCCORMICK
(46 / 40.7%)		Jed Ward
(29 / 25.7%)		Jake Wannell
(10 / 8.8%)
DECEMBER PLAYER OF THE MONTH 🥇 JED WARD
(10 PTS, 2 MOTM)
🥈 LUKE MCCORMICK
(9 PTS / 3 MOTM)		🥉 HARVEY GREENSLADE
(4 PTS / 0 MOTM)
03.01.2026BRAINTREE
(Home 3-1 win)		164 LUKE MCCORMICK
(44 / 26.8%)		Aaron Jarvis
(27 / 16.5%)		James Daly/Brett McGavin
(20 / 12.2%)
10.01.2026ALVECHURCH
(Home 0-0 [3-1 on pens])		172DAKARAI MAFICO
(86 / 50%)
Jed Ward
(55 / 32%)		Josh Sims
(9 / 5.2%)
17.01.2026BRACKLEY TOWN
(Away, 2-1 loss)		81DAKARAI MAFICO
(19 / 23.5%)
Harvey Greenslade
(15 / 18.5%)		Kyle Ferguson
(12 / 14.8%)
31.01.2026AFC TELFORD
(Away, 2-0 win)		191HARVEY GREENSLADE
(79 / 41.4%)
Dakarai Mafico
(60 / 31.4%)		Joy Mukena
(11 / 5.8%)
JANUARY PLAYER OF THE MONTH 🥇 DAKARAI MAFICO
(8 PTS, 2 MOTM)
🥈HARVEY GREENSLADE
(4 PTS / 1 MOTM)		🥉 LUKE MCCORMICK
(3 PTS / 1 MOTM)
06.02.2026ALTRINCHAM
(Away, 1-0 win)		92JED WARD
(57 / 61.3%)		Troy Perrett
(12 / 12.9%)		Kyle Ferguson
(7 / 7.5%)
11.02.2026BOREHAM WOOD
(Away 3-2 loss)		46JAMES DALY
(13 / 28.3%)		Jed Ward
(12 / 23.1%)		Jake Wannell
(8 / 17.4%)
14.02.2026ROCHDALE
(Home 1-1 draw)

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A game under the lights is in store for Yeovil Town as they face Aldershot Town at Huish Park on Tuesday night.

FORM…

YEOVIL TOWN

It’s two wins, two losses and a draw for the Glovers over the last five games, carrying on their up and down form this season. One of those two wins was in the league, an emphatic 3-1 home over Braintree Town. I highlight that game as that is probably the most complete performance’s Yeovil had this campaign, alongside the last time the Somerset faced Aldershot.

Last time out, was the opposite of complete, in fact it was one of if not the worst games many have seen, a 2-1 loss to Brackley Town. Credit where it is due, the Saints were good value for money and had Yeovil on the back foot for the majority of the game. However, it was clear to see how much Yeovil missed Morgan Williams at the back, with neither, Jake Wannell, Finn Cousin-Dawson or Kyle Ferguson looking capable at the back.

All in all the Glovers will have to a lot better than Saturday afternoon.

Brackley’s Danny Newton rises highest for a header whilst the Yeovil defence look on at the weekend.

ALDERSHOT TOWN

The Shots have been much improved since we last met, and sit two places below the Glovers in the league. Over the last five games, the Hampshire side have hit a purple patch, with three wins, one draw and a loss to their name. Two of those wins have been by a scoreline of 4-1.

In their previous fixture, the Shots ran out 4-1 victors over Eastleigh. It was a dull affair on the South-coast for the first 45 minutes with neither team scoring. The game then sprung into life in the second half with all five goals being scored. Will Nightingale scored the first on the 49th minute before Eastleigh equalised. The Shots then pulled away thanks to goals from Cameron Hargreaves, Charlie Warren and Ryan Hill scoring within 10 minutes of each other.

KEY PLAYERS…

YEOVIL TOWN – DAKARAI MAFICO

The youngster has shown since joining on loan how good he is, and was one of the only bright sparks in the defeat to Brackley. The full back does everything you want in a defender, which was shown last time out with:

  • 14 recoveries
  • Five ground duels won
  • Three interceptions
  • Two clearances

That is an impressive stat line for anyone let alone a 19-year-old, who is getting his first real taste in senior football. Offensively he is also prolific, with the headline stat from the Brackley game being his 95% pass accuracy. The Glovers will need Mafico on top-form again against Aldershot.

Dakarai Mafico
Pic C/O Gary Brown

ALDERSHOT TOWN – JOSH BARRETT

The forward has been in scintillating form for the Shots in his last five games in the league stretching back to the 6th of December. When looking at Sofascore the Irish man has had a rating of 8 or more in all of those five games.

This form has coincided with an uptick in goal contributions for the 27-year-old who has claimed six goal/assists in since the start of December. Four of those six contributions have been assists, but that shows how important a playmaker can be in this league. Against Eastleigh, Barrett can claim to be the man who propelled his side to victory with his two assists.

The forward will prove difficult to stop for the Glovers defenders.

THE GAFFER…

A familiar lower league name has taken charge at The EBB Stadium and will be in the dugout on Tuesday night, in the shape of John Coleman. The 63-year-old is best known for being Accrington Stanley’s former boss, where he spent 23 years as boss across two spells.

Outside of his long stints in the North-West, Coleman has managed Ashton United, Rochdale, Southport, Sligo, Gillingham and Waterford for a total of five years.

The Scouser joined the Shots in October and has turned the Hampshire side form around. He has also managed against the Glovers nine times, winning twice, drawing three times and losing on four occasions.

LAST TIME WE MET…

As mentioned above, Yeovil had arguably their best performance of the season the last time these two side met. The Glovers ran out 4-1 winners back in September in another midweek night fixture.

A Tahvon Campbell goal opened the scoring before Junior Morias doubled the scoring. Luke McCormick then scored quickly after before Campbell made it four with a penalty in the 64th minute. James Henry bagged a consolation goal in added time for Aldershot.

Yeovil Town celebrate Tahvon Campbell’s second half penalty. Picture courtesy of Mitch Clarke.

DON’T I KNOW YOU…

Just Tristan Abrahams as the only former Glovers in the Shots squad for Tuesday nights game. The striker played for Yeovil in the 2018/19 season, making 15 appearances and scoring three goals.
Tristan Abrahams for Yeovil Town
Tristan Abrahams in a Yeovil shirt during his loan spell in 2019-20. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz

THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE…

Richie Watkins is the man in charge for this fixture. For more information on him and his team for Tuesday night check out Ben’s article – here.

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It was a disappointing first visit to Brackley Town for Yeovil Town as they went down to a 2-1 defeat in Northamptonshire with former loanee Ben Wodskou netting the winner late in the first half. Dave was among the more than 300 travelling Glovers who made the journey and here are his conclusions.

What’s the point of possession if you do nothing with it? For long periods of this game, we created absolutely nothing with it and even more frustratingly we never looked like we even might. There were countless times when our players stopped and put their foot on the ball and looked around to see everyone in green-and-white completely static with no-one making a move to try and create something. The second half was a complete non-event with Brackley, who were ahead in the game, very happy to watch us pass it ponderously around, whilst we never seemed to have an idea of how to get through them. So slow, so lacking in intensity.

We look so fragile defensively: If you haven’t seen them yet, go back and watch both Brackley goals. Do you see anyone taking responsibility in our side? Tell me who they are if you do, because I see no-one. The first goal comes from a sloppy back pass from Kyle Ferguson but even after that Shane Byrne is completely unchallenged to tap in it. Then the second, it is far too easy for the Brackley player to win a header from the corner and Wodskou is the only one who seems to want it in the ensuing scramble. There is a huge Morgan Williams-shaped hole in our defence and, sorry, but Jake Wannell is not a captain for me. Either in his performances – and no, not just today – or his demeanour, he doesn’t do enough to warrant the armband. But, who does? It’s leadership again, isn’t it? We simply do not have it.

Danny Newton rises highest for a header whilst the Yeovil defence look on.

WE NEED A STRIKER!!: We have brought in six players in the past fortnight and we have so many ‘creative players’, ‘attacking midfielders’ or wingers – but WE NEED A STRIKER. Yes, I understand they are hard to come by, they are the ones who cost money, they are hard to come by in January, but surely anyone we bring in cannot be worse than what we have. Aaron Jarvis was completely anonymous in his 45 minutes and Tahvon Campbell was not much better when he appeared in the second half. There was a moment in the second half where Campbell found himself offside when there was an opportunity to have an effort on goal, cue screams of frustration from the away end. That noise sums up my feelings on everything about our attacking play at the moment.

Perrett offered something: If I had to pick a glimmer of hope it would the substitute Trey Perrett. The Cardiff City loanee who was given the last 20 minutes of the game to show what he has. He – and to a lesser extent fellow substitute Terrell Works – were the only players who looked to move in a positive fashion going forwards when we had possession. Perrett got a couple of shots away before he was able to lay one off to Luke McCormick to get a shot away late on. Let’s hope there is more of that to come.

Rowley needs to figure it out: There were boos from the away end at Brackley at the final whistle and the criticism was aimed at the performance, not the manager. Those people I spoke to after the whistle know that this HAS to be a project and we have to give Billy Rowley time to figure it out. He spoke after the game and said “I will figure out the players that want to come on this journey and don’t” and I will bet that there are many of those who made a five-hour round trip to see that performance can help him out with his list.

Billy Rowley and his players applaud supporters after the final whistle at Brackley.

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Yeovil winger James Daly said there was ‘massive frustration’ after the Glovers defeat at Brackley.

In a conversation with BBC Somerset’s Ian Randall following the 2-1 defeat Daly said: “[There’s an] element of massive frustration really. I think those games as well, I think disregarding tactically that’s more about the character of a person on the pitch and the desire to win it really. I think first half was good, but same old case of look good first half and didn’t capitalise on the chances and it comes back to bite us.”

Not for the first (or second) time this season Yeovil gifted goals to the opposition and as Brackley dug deep to hang on Daly said the game became about who wanted it more.

Interview backdrop with sponsor logos.

“That’s the National League and you get a lot of games like that at this level. Sometimes tactics do go out the window and it’s about who wants it more. And I know that sounds old fashioned and what-not, but sometimes if you’re not there, if you’re not meeting the physical duels and winning your winning your battles then you can come unstuck like we did today.

“It’s frustrating because you don’t want to be the team that looks nice, looks pretty and doesn’t have that, doesn’t have that spine, has a soft underbelly and we we don’t want that at all. So we need to find a way to first and foremost win the battle, win the duel and simplify it and we’ve got to beat the man in front of you who’s wearing the other jersey,” he added.

Since Billy Rowley took over from Richard Dryden in November, in the league the Glovers have won three, lost three and draw one and Daly said the team were playing better football but needed to learn how grind out a game.

“We’re playing better football as well. We’re looking better, which is a credit to Billy and Daz that have come in and we are creating more chances but we are very conscious of not becoming a team that looks pretty and can’t grind out a game against a Brackley because there’s a lot of teams in this league where physicality comes first, that is the National League.

“There’s plenty of times where it’s going to be rough and physical and we need to find a way to be able to withstand that so the quality comes through on the ball.”

Football match with spectators watching

When asked why Yeovil couldn’t create more in the second half Daly said it was difficult to break Brackley down once they got ahead.

“They’ve, they’ve got something to hang onto first half. We switched off from a set piece and have a mistake and all of a sudden when you’ve got something to hold onto then it’s a lot easier to defend and keep every man back. It makes it much more difficult when they’ve got men behind the ball and something to fight for and we can’t break them down then and it becomes a classic case of rue our chances that we haven’t taken and mistakes we made at the other end.

“We’d like to apologise to the traveling fans as well because to put on a display first half, we create chances but then second half it becomes a case of what’s the character of the player like on the field and that’s a big thing for us and that’s a question mark we don’t really want to have above our heads. We’ve got a game Tuesday to put things right and go from there.”

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A Tuesday night under the Huish Park lights? Oh, yeah, go on then.

A referee who’s overseen just three Yeovil games, all of which have resulted in Green and White losses? Ah, that’s a shame.

Look, we’re not holding it against Richie Watkins, but we’d sure like it if we could put that stat to bed this midweek.

He was in charge for the Glovers’ loss to Hemel Hempstead in the FA Cup earlier this season *shudders*, he took charge of a 1-0 defeat to Bromley in the National League relegation season and oversaw the Parma Violet Glovers losing 2-0 to Maidenhead United in 2023.

That FA Cup game saw him caution Finn Cousin-Dawson and Morgan Williams.

This season, his Transfermarkt stats read 15 games officiated, 60 yellows (4 per match for the mathematicians out there), eight reads and two penalties.

Those stats include a 2-2 draw between Aldershot and Brackley, where the Shots’ Ben Jackson saw red in the second half.

He’ll be assisted by Ryan McILravey and Adam Wilson, with Jack Clench on the bench, just in case.

Yeovil Town FC (First Team) v Aldershot Town (First Team)
National League – Premier
Referee: Watkins, Richie
Assistant Referee: McILravey, Ryan
Assistant Referee: Wilson, Adam
Fourth Official: Clench, Jack

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Billy Rowley apologised following Yeovil Town’s 2-1 defeat at Brackley. The Glovers conceded two poor goals in the National League Premier clash and the manager disappointed with the performance.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s, Ian Randall, Rowley said: “I know I’m supposed to say this to the fans, but I genuinely mean it: I am very thankful for them coming to support us today. And I’m going to apologise for that performance. I know all the lads will be in there agreeing. Everything we planned for against Brackley kind of was true: the game plan, their threats, how we were going to potentially deal with them. And at no point in this interview am I ever going to pretend like it’s the players – it’s all of us, it’s me. I’ll own that defeat on the chin.”

Rowley referred to his first interview where he said he was going to be ‘learning every game’ and said he was going to ‘figure out’ those of his squad who want to be on the journey.

“I tell you what it does for me is it motivates me a lot. In the first interview I said at this club, I’m going to be learning every game. I’m a very observant person, and I will figure out the players that want to come on this journey and don’t. I’m really disappointed by that performance today in a number of ways.” 

The manager did give credit to the hosts, who he knew would provide a tough challenge.

“Brackley are good at home at what they do. They sit in a block, they frustrate you, and they’re very good at that. They deserved the win today. Obviously, scoring early helped them a lot,it means they can drop their line and sit on the edge of their box. Then it’s tricky to play over them because there’s no space in behind; they have tight lines and it’s hard to then feed the players in the front areas of the pitch.”

“Obviously, the two goals, if you watch them back, they’re errors from us, really. It’s a set-piece chance that we’ve not really defended in the correct zones, and it’s a bit of a mix-up with the first goal. It was very much a creation of our own downfall there. But I felt even from when they scored the first goal, probably 15 to 20 minutes after that, I felt really comfortable with how the game was looking.

“We were arriving in their final third so often, and it was just the final choice. We were just a bit loose. We didn’t cross it when we should have crossed it with any quality, we didn’t slip people in when we should have. And then the more you make bad decisions in games, the more psychologically it becomes a really tricky game because you start doubting yourself, you start doubting the plan, and then you tend to make even more bad decisions. And that’s kind of what we did today. I think we started to doubt ourselves and probably overthink a little bit.

“I think there’s two ways to approach that when you’re playing against a block: you can either slow the game out to draw people out and then inject the speed, or you can just move the ball side-to-side really quickly and hopefully they jump out. We kind of did neither of those, which is again—this is a bit of a process we’re going through. We just weren’t very good today. Some of our attacking play, some of our choices weren’t great, so it’s definitely something we’re going to review and improve on.”

Rowley added that getting performances right at home is going to crucial for the remaining matches this season.

“I think one thing that we’re going to try to do in these 19 games remaining in the league is to make sure we’re very good at home. If you get draws away from home, it’s not the end of the world. I think probably a draw today would have been fair, but we’ll wear that loss on the chin.”

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Former Yeovil Town loanee Ben Wodskou came back to haunt his old side as he scored the winner for Brackley Town on a frustrating afternoon for the Glovers on their first visit to St James’ Park.

The Birmingham City striker stabbed home from close range after a corner from another ex-Glover Scott Pollock was not dealt with by the visitors’ defence just before half-time.

Yeovil had gone behind to Shane Byrne’s opener after just four minutes before defender Kyle Ferguson drew the game level with a 12th minute header, and then the visitors were unable to break down a resolute Brackley despite dominating possession in the second half.

The stats show the Glovers had far more of the possession, but the hosts did more with less to take the win. Here’s Dave’s on the whistle report.

First half

Yeovil boss Billy Rowley gave just one debut to his six news signings with Jonathon Page, who joined from the manager’s old side Walton & Hersham, starting in midfielder. On the bench were defender Joy Mukena, midfielder Ryan Jones, on loan Cardiff City youngster Troy Perrett and Terrell Works, the attacker on loan from Premier League Fulham.

The game started about as badly as it could have for the Glovers with Brackley taking the lead with their first attack. A long ball forward saw Scott Pollock challenging with Kyle Ferguson whose poor back pass to goalkeeper Jed Ward was massively underhit allowing the midfielder to hit an effort which the keeper blocked. But it only broke to Shane BYRNE who was able to tap in to an unguarded net with the Yeovil defence jogging back in to position. Another poor, poor goal and our defence proving the creators of their own problems yet again.

It did not take long to get a response with Ferguson atoning for his earlier error with the equaliser after 11 minutes. A corner from James Daly was cleared out as far as the winger who floated it back in to the area and Kyle FERGUSON rose highest to head home.

Six minutes later, Brackley had a golden opportunity to restore their advantage when a long throw from Yeovil was easily dealt with by the hosts and a long ball up the middle of the pitch saw Ben Wodskou easily get past Josh Sims, the only player anywhere near him. The former Glovers loanee was one-on-one with Ward, but he took his shot early and the keeper was able to save with his foot. Wodskou should have done much better there.

Ten minutes later there was another chance for Brackley when Tyler Lyttle was unchallenged to put a cross in from the right side and striker Danny Newton rose at the back post to head just wide.Yeovil were dominating possession, but doing nothing to threaten to find their way through a well-organised Brackley. Meanwhile, we looked fragile every time we went forward with the home side seemingly able to get balls in to our box at will.

Danny Newton rises highest for a header whilst the Yeovil defence look on.

Sure enough with two minutes of normal time remaining in the first half, Brackley took the lead and there was more sloppy defending on display again. Pollock’s corner was met at the back post by another unchallenged header this time from defender Kyle Ferguson, Ward pushed it out but Ben WODSKOU was there to stab it home.

Ben Wodskou, who scored Yeovil’s winner in the reverse fixture in August, celebrates with Danny Newton.

In general play we have dominated possession, but Brackley have kept us where they want us and aside from a goal from a set-piece, we have not threatened to create a chance. Even more concerning is our defence which has a massive Morgan Williams-shaped hole in it, the ease at which Brackley have scored their two goals has been appalling.

Half time: Brackley Town 2 Yeovil Town 1

Second half

Striker Tahvon Campbell replaced the anonymous Aaron Jarvis at half-time and with three minutes of the second half played James Daly curled an effort wide which was speculative at best. Then with fewer than ten minutes of the second half elapsed, manager Billy Rowley made two further changes with Fulham loanee attacker Terrell Works and midfielder Josh Tobin replacing Harvey Greenslade and Jonathon Page with 53 minutes on the clock.The difference? Not very much, to be honest.

The square root of nothing happened between that set of substitutions and ten minutes later when new boy Ryan Jones, who joined from Aldershot Town during the week, was introduced. Brackley are quite happy to sit there and watch us pass the ball around without enough urgency; the amount of times a player in a green-and-white shirt has put their foot on the ball because there is no-one making a move is unbelievable.

The final throw of the dice came 20 minutes from time when Cardiff loanee Troy Perrett replaced Finn Cousin-Dawson, with Tobin dropping back in to defence. At this stage there were a lot of players on the pitch for us who have never played together outside of training, but we have looked like this for much of the match with players who have played countless matches together. Brackley have offered very little to threaten us, but they don’t need too – we are the side which is behind in this game!

Loanee Terrell Works was introduced in the second half.

Perrett offered that rarest of things, a player who looked to positively move forward when we were in possession and he had a couple of efforts blocked after coming on the pitch. It was therefore not surprising when he was involved in our best (only?) meaningful opportunity with five minutes remaining. His Cardiff City team-mate Dakari Mafico found him on the edge of the box and he cleverly laid it off to Luke McCormick whose effort was turned aside by Brackley keeper Cameron Gregory. I think that is the first time I have mentioned Gregory in this report and that tells its own story.

McCormick had another shot late on which Gregory was able to hold and then with four minutes of second half stoppage time played there was a late corner which goalkeeper Ward came up for. But, on this day after this performance, it was no surprise to see it turn in to a farce with an appalling corner leading to a Brackley break away with the goal unprotected. Ward raced back towards his goal and luckily Ferguson was able to get back with a covering tackle.

The final whistle was met by the sound of boos from some in the travelling support and it is difficult to blame them after a performance where we had dominated possession but never looked like we were going to do anything with it. Brackley did a job on us and we made it easy for them to do one.

Full time: Brackley Town 2 Yeovil Town 1

Match Details

Venue: St James’ Park
Date: Saturday 17th January, 3pm kick-ff

Competition: Enterprise National League Prem,ier Division

Scorers: Shane Byrne 4 (1-0), Kyle Ferguson 12 (1-1), Ben Wodskou 44 (2-1 )

Pitch: Sloped in about six different directions
Conditions: Dry but cool

Attendance: 1,125 (319 Yeovil Fans)

Bookings:
Yeovil Town: Jake Wannell 45, Kyle Ferguson 72, Josh Tobin 80.
Brackley Town: Tyler Lyttle 16, Shane Byrne 24, Zak Brown 75.

Referee: George Laflin.

Yeovil Town (3-4-1-2)

Substitutes: Tahvon Campbell (for Aaron Jarvis, 46), Terrell Works (for Harvey Greenslade, 52), Josh Tobin (for Jonathon Page, 52), Ryan Jones (for Josh Sims, 64), Trey Perrett (for Finn Cousin-Dawson, 71), Michee Efete (not used), Joy Mukena (not used)

Brackley Town: Cameron Gregory, Tyler Lyttle, Kyle Morrison, Scott Pollock, Zak Brown (for Jack Price, 90), Danny Newton, Matt Lowe, Michael Nottingham (for Zak Lilly, 70), Ben Wodskou (for Morgan Roberts, 59), Byron Pendleton, Shane Byrne.

Substitutes (not used): Alastair Worby, Connor Hall, Yahya Bamba, Riccardo Calder.